Muscle cramping symptoms and conditions

Hi everyone:

I tried two 6 month bouts with Yasmin and have had terrible side effects both times. The most recent being diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome. I strongly encourage everyone to listen to your bodies - if something doesn't seem right, persists, and no other explanation is available, I would strongly recommend to stop Yasmin immediately! There are a variety of other birth control pills available. I seem to not tolerate certain progestin formulations, which vary from pill to pill. You can google BCP and hormones and self educate yourself until you find a pill which works for you. I am currently looking into filing an FDA complaint for this pill. In doing so I also noted that it is currently being investigated for causing acute pancreatitis!

One more comment, I've seen in this search and others people complaining about losing feeling on one side of your body and/or muscle cramping in the legs. These symptoms can be very serious (blood clot/stroke) and you should see a doctor immediately!

Dizziness, weight gain, muscle cramping, nightmares, nausea, bloating, water retention. My legs look like elephant legs they are so swollen. I have been on Advair for 3 mos and I have gained 9 lbs. I exercise 45 minutes a day and still gain weight. The blood pressure is up, the blood sugar is up, the hemoglobin is down and the GERD is not responding to the Protonix. It is exacerbating everything and I am going to request a change in meds. I am 53 and I do not want to go diabetic at this stage.

Have been on Cymbalta 30mg daily for a year. Started on Wellbutrin 50mg daily about 6 weeks ago to help with attention deficit. About 4 weeks or so ago I started having occasional muscle cramping in hands and feet. Yesterday I started with twitching of left eye. Last time I had the eye twitching it was the beginning of an allergic reaction to Prozac. I'm thinking even the low dose Wellbutrin may be too much. anyone else had this experience? I'm also starting to notice an increase in anxiety. Not sure if it's due to worrying about the cramping and twitching or the Wellbutrin itself. Any thoughts?

I must be living in a vacuum without knowing it. I have been on Lipitor for a few years now. I do slur words on occasion... the cramps are occasionally unbearable. I get cramps in my rib cage, legs, feet and have to watch myself making move like reaching for something that requires anything other than a normal move or twist.. or I get a cramp. I also get cramps in my hands, muscles knotting up with horrible pain... I have to watch how grasp things my fingers.... occasional just cutting a steak holding the knife or fork and applying pressure... I had a discussion with a complete stranger today who said he had similar side effects with Lipitor... I thought it was old age (I'm 62).... and not very physically active. I looked it up on the internet and found this very informative site.

I have atherosclerosis and had a triple bypass in 1996 - since then I have been taking lipitor - first started out at 40 mg and just recently started taking 80 mg. I can relate to the leg cramps - both my right and left calf are pretty knotted up, and my calf muscles twitch somewhat when I get in bed - and then just prior to waking up I usually get a cramp in one or both legs. I have really had no other side effects - I excercise regularly on the elliptical machine. I feel like maybe drinking more water might alleviate the cramps - I'm going to religiously try to keep hydrated this year. Even so, I do feel like the cramping is a result of the medicine.

I was on Femcon FE for 6 months just for hormone replacement I have been on BC for 10 years never had the problems like I have with this drug. Severe arm muscle aches but worst of all lower back muscle cramping at night so bad I could barley get out of bed in the morning. I was starting to think I had arthritis, numbness in fingers and arms at night as well as stiffness in my fingers joint pain in my knees very bad. All this was a constant and the back cramping was getting worse with every night. I have stopped taking this drug 1 week ago and already see big improvement in mood, numbness is gone and the back stiffening and cramping has greatly improved, the muscle aches are almost gone Thank god I figured out it was this horrible drug.

I am so thankful for this site. I thought maybe it was just me. For one, I am allergic to Sulfa. My doctor knows this, as does my pharmacy. Still, they give me Lisinopril with Hydrochlorothiazide which you should NOT take if you have a sulfa allergy. From day one, I started with anxiety, agitation, nausea and what felt like a racing heart - though my pulse was normal. Day three I called the doctor and they said this was normal as my body "adjusted" to the medication. It has been over two weeks and the same thing keeps happening. I tried taking the meds at night to hopefully sleep through the side effects but no - it just kept me awake. I put another call in today and have yet to receive a return call from my doctor. I hope the doctor calls me and NOT the front desk girl because I have a lot of questions and concerns. Other symptoms I have been experiencing since I started Lisinopril are sever muscle cramping last for over 24 hours, dizziness, heavy chest/racing heart beat, restlessness and less frequent urination. For a 37 yo female who has to "potty" constantly, even throughout the night, going once in an 8+ hour period is not normal! The worst side effect though is definitely the anger and agitation. I feel like I am going to burst out of my skin or die banging my head against the wall. Last night I tossed and turned for 2 hours in agitation. I thought I would surely have a heart attack from the stress. Oh yeah my BP has NOT dropped at all (tho it fluctuates on or off the meds) on the 20 mg dose. Go figure.

Started with a Pred pak for a sinus infection. Made my heart race and had tach and early heartbeat, which kept me from sleeping. Went to Cardiologist. Several doctors denied that the Pred would cause the rapid heartbeat. Then the Cardiologist did an echo and found a pericardial effusion and some weird spots on my lungs. They suspected lung cancer which may cause the effusion, so I had surgery to do a pericardial window and a lung biopsy. Then a pulmonologist decided to put me on Pred again...steady dosage...because she didn't know what else to do. (Didn't have lung cancer) I didn't have any more funny heartbeats, so maybe the pred didn't cause it after all. But I've gained 40 pounds. My hair has grown faster, and I've gotten some facial hair (not supposed to have that, being a female)...which I call fur. Moon face with cheeks that are hard, muscle cramps, can't sleep, but once I do go to sleep, I can't wake up. Tired all the time, headaches, joint pain-sometimes severe, dry skin, generally bad attitude, with very little patience, low potassium levels which add to my muscle cramping problems, difficulty swallowing, indigestion which I've never had, with painful and burning reflux. And occasionally when I eat, I have the rapid heartbeat again. I go in search of food like I'm going to store it in my thighs for winter. Anything you eat will turn to fat, including protein. Can't wait to get off this stuff which will take until June of next year. Then my doctor says it will be 3 months before all these effects wear off. No one told me I would get fur.

I guess we are all in the same boat.

I do not like any type of BC. They all have serious side effects.

The symptoms I have notice are:

~spotting during the off weeks of my period
~abdominal cramps
~infections (yeast/fungus)
~burning when urinating
~burning and itching all the way to my behind (its even painful when I sit on the toilet)
~cramping in my uterus during intercourse (the doctor just said that his private is touching my uterus)...that seems really weird
~muscle cramping in my calf and chin(I have cramps in the middle of the night)
~nausea (i have taken numerous pregnancy test, just to make sure)
~increase in appetite
~bloating

These are the symptoms I have notice and I am not to happy about. Every method will have its own side effects.

So, as I continue with the ring, I just keep an eye on the symptoms. If they get any worst, I will continue to contact my doctor or consider another method.

The things we go through....

I was prescribed Levaquin in July 2008 for a kidney infection - 500 mg for 7 days. I experienced insomnia, muscle cramping in my calfs, and aching a chilies tendon while taking the drug. Approximately 5 days post Levaquin I started having generalized muscle twitching (head to toe) which is intensely noticed at rest, severe anxiety, burning sensation, vibratory sensation, and most recently weakness accompanied w/ pain in my right arm. I have seen 4 separate doctors in 3 months and have had blood work done along with an MRI of my brain. All tests came back normal... I am scheduled for an EEG and EMG this coming week - which too will probably come back normal. Between all of my doctors I have been diagnosed w/ a virus, anxiety disorder, fibromyalgia, and a mild case of Guillain-Bairre Syndrome. Luckily all the doctors have agreed that they do not believe I have MS or ALS. Before the kidney infection I was healthy and RARELY made a visit to the doctors. I have issued a Medwatch Report to the FDA as I am completely convinced that my medical issues are related to Levaquin. I have been dealing with these symptoms now for 3 months and would appreciate any feedback from individuals who have experienced the same side effects and what they may have done to ease the symptoms.

1. Blood Pressure 180/120 resulting in an emergency room trip
2. Weight gain of 25 POUNDS! Most/all of which was water and came off within the first week of being off from Yasmin.
3. Bloating and extreme water retention. See # 2.
4. Severe leg muscle cramping and foot pain
5. A mental feeling of not caring and general fogginess
6. Complete loss of libido
7. Acid reflux (probably from the diuretic in Yasmin)
8. General weakness in my muscles (there were times that I could barely open a revolving door).

I was on Yasmin for a year. I have been off for one month. I am still on blood pressure meds, but they don't think the Yasmin is out of my system. Has anyone else gotten hypertension from Yasmin and if so, how long did you have to be on blood pressure meds?

Some of my symptoms are getting better after a month, and some are not. If anyone is reading this to decide whether or not to take Yasmin, please don't. You may not have any symptoms right away and you may think you feel great, but that is the scariest part. When symptoms come on gradually, you hardly notice them until you are in the hospital emergency room.

I've been taking levoxyl for 8 years now with mostly good success. My endo doctor recently upped my dose due to lab results (I think the test results were bad). Now I feel horrible. Headache, dizzy/lightheaded, blood pressure increased, tightness in throat, and muscle cramping. I've been to many specialists concerning the dizziness - everyone says I'm OK; cardiologist, ENT, and neurologist. The symptoms started a few weeks after the dose increase, and have worsened in the last week or two (about 2.5 months out).

Took first pill (5mg) on 7/8. Second on 7/9. After lunch on 7/9, food stayed in stomach and would not digest. Felt like a huge lump. Digestion continues to be a problem. No appetite. Food does not look good. On 7/11, developed two hives with large red areas surrounding them, however, they were not itchy. Became quite tired also. Allergy symptoms of itching eyes, watering eyes, itching throat, stuffiness developed. Headaches to the point of taking a pain reliever. Developed muscle cramping in calves on 7/15. Still great difficulty eating with no appetite. Existing hiatal hernia became a problem at night with nausea. Terrible flatulence also. Exhaustion is now the description, not just tired. Feeling depressed, but perhaps that is a result of the exhaustion. Blood in urine on 7/18, the final straw. Discontinued med on 7/18. Hives have still not cleared up totally (7/28) and the tiredness has still not gone away. I have been told that when you have hives on the outside, you have hives on the inside too. I would never take this med again. Going to look into biofeedback.

Took first pill (5mg) on 7/8. Second on 7/9. After lunch on 7/9, food stayed in stomach and would not digest. Felt like a huge lump. Digestion continues to be a problem. On 7/11, developed two hives with large red areas surrounding them, however, they were not itchy. Became quite tired also. Allergy symptoms of itching eyes, watering eyes, itching throat, stuffiness developed. Developed muscle cramping in calves on 7/15. Still great difficulty eating with no appetite. Existing hiatal hernia became a problem at night. Terrible flatulence also. Exhaustion is now the description, not tired. Feeling depressed, but perhaps that is a result of the exhaustion. Discontinued med on 7/18. Hives have still not cleared up totally (7/28) and the tiredness has still not gone away. I have been told that when you have hives on the outside, you have hives on the inside too. I would never take this med.

Am I the only one who has gained a lot of weight while on Lisinopril? I have gained over 40lbs in 3 years. I have also experienced odd muscle cramping and have never made a connection to this and Lisinopril. The pain in my ear, side of my head, and my jaw was unbelievable. ENT dr thought it was TMJ or nerve damage. He was not able to really pin down the exact cause. One month later I was bed ridden with severe back pain, which I have never had before. MRI showed nothing. Headaches are daily, cough, leg cramps, chest pain, decreased sex drive, and definitely have feelings of depression. I have never made the connection between the changes in my personality, health, and lifestyle to this medicine; but now I have. I will be immediately contacting my doctor to discuss alternatives. My BP when I started was 150/90 and now is 112/70. Please let me know if anyone has also had the weight gain like I have experienced. I know I am going to have to have hard facts to show to my doctor. Thank you.

I started taking Yasmin on Monday April 21st, and by Wednesday morning I wanted off of it. I started getting really bad leg cramps all the time, I feel dizzy all the time, I have trouble concentrating, and I have trouble breathing. The worst part is that I have heart palpitations now. My heart feels all butterfly-like or it feels like it's beating really slowly really hard. I just spoke with my doctor, and she says to stop taking it immediately.

After reading this website I see I'm not the only one affected by horrible side-effects from Yasmin.

I went on Prednisone for only 3 days as treatment to a bad allergic reaction to antibiotics. I ended up in the ER for treatment of the allergic reaction and they gave me a pred IV. They put me on 80 mg tablets, which I was supposed to take for 5 days, but there was no tapering off called for by the doc. I only took it for 3 days and started bad abdominal cramps and a bad taste in my mouth. Everything tasted extremely salty--and still does almost a week later. After I was off the drug for a day or two I started bad cramping in my chest, trouble breathing even though they said my lungs were clear, and really bad anxiety, which I've never had before. I freaked out while I was driving and had to pull into a parking lot for over an hour, and still had bad anxiety trying to drive home. I felt like I was drowning and had labored breathing. It's been almost a week and I still have muscle cramping in my chest, but it's starting to subside if I stay calm. I now have headaches and am weak generally, but am starting to come out of it, I think. I don't think the docs wanted to admit that lot of this was due to the pred; it is a serious drug that should not be taken lightly. I never knew there could be such extreme side effects to a drug. I am sorry to hear that many of you have had similar experiences, but it does give me some comfort to know that these effects were real and not due to some psychosomatic problem.

I am a 45 year old female & am on the Toprol-XL 50 mg & take 1 twice a day...I have noticed I have blurred vision & problems with my eyes & also suffer with my legs hurting a lot & also have joint stiffness & cramps in my feet & legs & have trouble sleeping & some memory problems at times along with feeling tired all the time & some depression & shortness of breath & no matter how little I eat I seem to put on weight & look & feel bloated...don't know if it's the Toprol-XL or not but have only had these problems since I been on that & Crestor.

Similar to P.O.W. interrogation. Great torture. After two months, my muscles were in a perpetual state of motion. Starting with but not limited to my calves, my muscles would turn into tight knots anywhere, anytime, for no apparent reason. Constant pain and muscle cramping, exhausted, vomiting, losing weight. Sent to multiple specialists before my 6 month asthma recheck. Diagnoses ranged from viral syndrome to fibromyalgia. One quack actually told me that my job(E.M.T.) was too stressfull for my age(34) and that I should change careers. Symptoms started to resolve about 2 weeks after stopping the Advair, completely resolved after 2 months, One year for the muscle/tendon damage to heal, psychological damage still uncertain.

hello everyone
i am a full time college student and I believe that i have some side effects from synthroid. As i was reading everyones blog i notice that some people feel the same way that i do. At times i feel that i'm normal but if something upsetting happens i get really tired, depress, and I have a never time concentrating at school and home. My body hurts all the time. especially my joints and i feel that i don't want to do anything. I have about a year left until i graduate and its the going to be hard. I cry sometimes for no reason. help! i'm going to talk to my doctor but if any body else feels the same way please reply.

I was prescribed Levaquin 750mg for pneumonia. The first 2 days I felt ok, then the 3rd day about an hour or two after I took the pill I was getting really anxious and depressed. I was acutally having thought of suicide! The anxiousness and depression lasted for about 4 to 5 hours after the start of them. Also on the third day, I was experiencing my heart pounding and some muscle cramping. The 4th day the symptoms started getting a little worse. And so today, being the 5th day of my 5 day treatment I feel like a truck hit me. I called my Dr. and he told me not to take todays dose, that Levaquin is probably causing the symptoms that I'm having. As I type this I've had to stop numerous times because of my fingers and hands cramping. Also I dont think I've ever sweat this much in my life. I probably would have never called my doctor about my symptoms if I didnt stumble across this page.

Thank you Ladies! I was up in the middle of the night last night researching YAZ because I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I woke up shaky, heart racing, sweating. It just wouldn't go away. Almost got my daughter and husband up to take me to ER. Then I read all the entries in this blog and was convinced it was the BCP. I got into see a doc in the am. She wasn't my normal doctor, so all I wanted was an overall check. She did EKG, blood and just an overall check -Normal. However, I did have a high pulse. That fluctuates throughout the day anyway, but again it was fast even at rest into the next day. I asked her if YAZ was the cause for this and she said probably not because I was only on it for 1 week. I had switched from being on OrthoTriCyclen. I switched because of depression, long periods, bloating, cramping... I might as well had been on no BCP than OTC. The strange thing was I had been on OTC for 5 years prior to having my first child (3 years ago) and loved it! Which makes me think your body chemistry is always changing. Anyway, my first week on Yaz was MISERABLE! I had constipation, dry mouth, exessive urnation, deydrated eventhough drinking 8 glasses of H2O a day, shaky muscles, muscle fatigue, muscle cramping, low libido, sweating, hot at night, loss of appetite, feeling cloudy in the head- like I hadn't slept for a couple of days, but not tired and then finally the heart issue. I went off of it and I slept like a champ last night. I think I still must have some residual hormones in my body but am convinced it will go away in the next week or so. I wanted to mention at the doc's office when I asked her about the potassium increase that could happen with YAZ, she had no idea that was a side effect. So, she wanted to find out more and had a little book, like a mini phone book, full of all the drugs and their side effects. She got to the page and was astounded by the number of side effects for a BCP. It took up a whole page of the book. She told me she had not seen so many side effects for a BCP ever! I got my potassium checked and it turned out fine. But, if you do have muscle issues go get that checked, b/c potassium is a big component to muscle health. What is odd is sister is on YASMIN and loves it! as well as many of her friends. She told me I would have really sore breasts the first couple of months, but that was about it.

My sister in law has been taking topamax for at least two years now for migraines, I think 50mg a day. She has developed serious issues, which she nor her doctors believe is from the drug. She has back pain, moodiness, sleeplessness, extreme muscle cramping. Most recently, her legs have become extremely swollen, larger than any pregnant woman I have ever seen. The skin on her feet is breaking open and peeling. The doctors can't find the cause, but I think it is the topamax. Has anyone else had this swelling?

MT SIDE EFFECT THAT i HAVE , SINCE I HAVE HYPOTHROIDISM HAVE BEEN UP AND DOWN LIKE A ROLLER COASTER. i CAN TELL ALL THE TIME WHEN MY LEVELS ARE OFF. WHEN THEY ARE TOO HIGH OF TOO MUCH THYROID MEDICATION IN MY SYSTEM, I FEEL VERY NERVOUS, IRRITABLE. SHAKEY FEELING INSIDE LKE I CANNOT CALM DOWN IN SIDE. MUSCLE CRAMPING, AND BAD HEADACHE. WHEN MY LEVELS ARELOW , I AMY VEY TIRED AL DAY LONG AND JUST WANT TO SLEEP. i ALSO GET A VERY DEPRESSED FEELING AND WANT TO CRY ALOT, BECAUSE I DONT FEEL RIGHT. WHEN THE LEVELS ARE REALLY LOW I GET DIZZY, AND WHEN i TRY TO DRIVE MY CAR I CAN NOT CONCINTRATE VERY WELL AND i FEEL LIKE I AM DRUNK.. THE FEELING IS AWFUL, AND MAKES ME FEEL LIKE I AM NOT IN TOUCH WITH REALITY.

I have been on the ring for almost three months, and def notice some side effects. Besides feeling way more sensitive and moody (aka psycho) I get severe muscle cramping in my feet and calves, once even in my chest. They feel like charlie horses. I am assuming this is related to the ring, considering it has never happened before. As well, I get a yeast infection and irritation the 3rd week. Also slight weight gain (@ 5 pounds) but I can work with that. I really have moments where I feel crazy and depressed- but I do not want to get pregnant, so...
Does anyone else have these cramping issues? Do you know of any supplements to relieve it?